Article

U.S. Government Announces Final Duties in Aluminum Sheet Investigation

11/9/2018 12:00:00 AM
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General Government Relations

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its final antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese common alloy aluminum sheet products of 96.3 percent to 176.2 percent. NMMA and their industry partners have urged the government to remove all duties on aluminum sheet, and recently testified before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding this issue.

The duties on Chinese aluminum sheet stem from an investigation initiated by the Commerce Department in late 2017, which found that Chinese companies and the government were artificially reducing the product’s cost. As a result, the price of aluminum sheet – including domestically produced materials – has increased by nearly 30-40 percent.

The recreational boating industry has a lot at stake in this case. In 2017, 44 percent of all new boats sold, or 111,0000, were aluminum based, accounting for $3 billion in economic value. Domestic aluminum boat production and sales account for nearly 22,000 marine industry jobs.

The ITC is scheduled to make a final decision in the case on or before December 20 – the commissioners will either reaffirm the duties or eliminate them. NMMA will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates ahead of the ruling.

For more information, please contact NMMA Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legal Affairs, Nicole Vasilaros at nvasilaros@nmma.org or NMMA Director of Federal Affairs, Lance West at lwest@nmma.org.